Syracuse, NY - County Judge Tony Aloi didn’t seem pleased to have Ricardo Casanova-Carrasquillo standing before him in court last week.

Casanova-Carrasquillo had signed an extradition waiver to go back to Puerto Rico to face homicide charges but the judge’s usual two-week deadline for authorities to come get the defendant had passed. Puerto Rican authorities were looking for a two-week extension, blaming a problem locating a material witness in their case.

Normally, Aloi would order the defendant released from custody if the court’s extradition-pickup deadline passed. But that wasn’t an option with Casanova-Carrasquillo facing a homicide charge.

And that had defense lawyer Chuck Keller perturbed. If Aloi couldn’t set bail because the defendant had signed the extradition waiver, Casanova-Carrasquillo could conceivably be held in jail here forever if Puerto Rican authorities just didn’t come to get him, the lawyer said.

Keller said his client would be better off withdrawing his waiver and forcing authorities to get governors’ warrants to complete the extradition process since Aloi would then have bail-setting authority. But Casanova-Carrasquillo “reluctantly” agreed to the two-week extension of the deadline for Puerto Rican officials to come get him.

Aloi strongly suggested Senior Assistant DA Tim Hennigan make it clear to officials they had better “get their butts up here” to get Casanova-Carrasquillo. If the defendant is still here Oct. 31, the judge promised he would be “more than mildly upset.”